An All Progressives Congress (APC) Abia South senatorial district aspirant, Prince Paul Ikonne, has stated that Igbos do not want a president who will rule for only four years.
Ikonne said this during a media interactive parley in Abuja on Thursday, while reacting to presidential aspirant Peter Obi’s promise that he will serve only a single term.
He dismissed Obi’s promise, arguing that when the time is ripe for the South East to produce a president, it will be for an eight-year term, like other regions.
He claimed that South East governors, including Alex Otti of Abia State and major political stakeholders in Igboland, were behind the re-election of President Tinubu in 2027.
“Why would he (Peter Obi) promise to be president for four years? So, he is trying to deprive the Southeasterners when other zones are doing eight years. No Southeast man will vote for such a thing. No, not at all. We are not looking for a president who will just be there for four years. We want to produce, when the time comes, the Igbo president that will be there for eight years,” he said.
He further revealed that Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has set up a team to sensitise Igbo across the country, “shop to shop, market to market, to mobilise support for the President Tinubu’s re-election,” adding that the massive votes Tinubu will get in 2027 will come from all the places where Igbo reside and not only in the Eastern region.
“Igbo will not make that mistake and we will not be deceived to say let people come just for four years. To do what exactly? It may take him (Obi) two years to appoint his ministers. Before they finish taking him round the Villa, finish meeting with the permanent secretaries and all that, four years will be over,” he said.